Welcome to Los Martinceto's

Today I began my placement at Los Martinceto's Senior Center in Villa El Salvador. Following my one day visit during my first week I knew that I absolutely had to spend my second two weeks at Los Martinceto's Senior Center. In that one day visit I was welcomed into the center and I felt as though I was part of a family. It just warmed my heart so much to there.

I arrived today and was immediately greeted with warm smiles, hugs and kisses. The residents make me feel so welcome and are genuinely happy to see you. My morning included serving breakfast and socializing with the residents. I helped to clean up afterwards and then got to go with another volunteer to the local market. Okay, the local market is so amazing and so much fun and a truly unique experience. It is an open air market that sells pretty much everything you can imagine but I stayed at the poultry booth and watched them cut the birds. Lets just say it involved more than I need to specify here. But it was definitely interesting to watch and to experience the market for the first time. We then carried the food and veggies outside to a rickshaw who drove two of us back to the senior center while myself and another walked back.

Back at the senior center I helped to prepare lunch by cutting the vegetables we bought at the market. I also got to help stir and strain different things that were cooking in pots. By the end of this experience I will be well versed in ways of meal preparation. To just be included in the kitchen and to help the staff prepare meals and know my time is benefitting the residents is so worthwhile. As much as I enjoyed Anjo Gabriel I feel the Senior Center is going to fulfill my expectations of international volunteering in an entirely new way. I just love being here and seeing the smiling faces of the residents and other volunteers.

Tomorrow includes home visits in Villa El Salvador and I know it is going to be another incredible day.